Pakistani bowlers are struggling to take wickets and control the run flow in the ongoing World Cup.
On Monday (October 23), Pakistan cricket was jolted to the core as Babar Azam’s men suffered an embarrassing eight-wicket defeat at the hands of Afghanistan in Chennai.
Three successive defeats have hampered Pakistan's chances for a semi-final qualification. They have to win the remaining four league matches and might have to rely on other teams to make it to the final four.
Pakistan are due to face the rampaging South African team at Chepauk on Friday (October 27). Ahead of the clash, pace legend Wasim Akram extended his support to Babar and company.
During a discussion on A Sports, a fan asked Akram about Babar’s approach in the upcoming games as leading pacers like Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf are not delivering for the team.
In response, the former Pakistan captain said, “Ab Babar bechara kya kar sakta hai (What can Babar do) when his bowlers are struggling? The only thing he can do is sit down with them and give a heap of confidence and as a nation, we should as well.”
“We know that they had 3-4 bad games, they are having a problem with the new ball. But the skill and ability are there. They just need one good delivery or a good spell so that they have the confidence back,” he added.
Another fan enquired about fast bowlers losing their pace. To which, Akram mentioned that the reason could be lack of bowling in the nets.
“I think, what I personally feel, is they bowl less in the nets. I know they are playing too much cricket but sometimes you need to bowl in the nets to brush up your muscles, not during the series but off-season. I can only give my example because I’ve played County Cricket for years where I had to play 17 games in a season so that impacted my performance,” he stated.
Wasim Akram also recalled Pakistan cricket team’s preparations for their triumphant 1992 World Cup campaign.
“I remember in 1992, Imran Bhai took us almost a month prior to the World Cup and we just trained. The idea was to acclimatize to the condition as soon as possible and get supreme fit. We started our training with 10 laps of the ground and then we fielded, bowled and batted,” he said.